THE Civil Service Commission (CSC) 7 held their second and last civil service exam last Oct. 18 at the Lahug Elementary School in Cebu City.
Among those who took the professional civil service exam were 26 persons with disabilities (PWDs).
They took the exam not only to test their intelligence but to prove that they can perform well and their disabilities will not hinder them from getting their desired jobs.
“Persons with special needs who took the civil service exam made a good move,” said Prolaine D. Daclan, CSC 7 chief personnel specialist. “We give equal opportunity to everybody to join the government service, without looking to their special needs but at their qualifications to perform the function.”
These qualifications include the examiner’s educational background, eligibility, experience and training.
She said that career employment in the government is based on merit and the capability to perform, and passing the civil service exam is a major test of the examiner’s ability.
Val Edcel Centino, a management accounting graduate from the University of San Carlos who has defective legs, said he just shrugs off stereotyping and the discrimination he gets.
“I don’t actually think that I have an edge. All I know is that I can compete and I can make it,” he said in Cebuano.
Centino, who admitted it was his firs time to take the exam, believes that nothing is more important than getting a job.
“I want to enter a government office, Comelec (Commission on Elections) specifically, and for me nothing is impossible, considering that I’m doing my best,” he said.
Another PWD examiner is an employee of Toledo Water District, who wished to improve his rank.
Daxcorbit T. Lebumfacil, 45, who suffered polio in the left leg and has been working as a data controller for 10 years at the water district, believes that his condition is not a limitation for him to strive more in life.
“For my promotion,” was Lebumfacil’s reply when asked why he took the test. (Jan Karla Tayone Madrio, UP Cebu BA Mass Comm Major)